"Error in method invocation Timeout happens while sending message to microservice" when updating or patching vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 from VAMI or CLI

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Updating or Patching vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 fails with this error during pre-checks:

"Error in method invocation Timeout happens while sending message to microservice"

• In the /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/applmgmt.log file, you see entries similar to:

2019-04-15T16:29:09.507 [3347]DEBUG:vmware.appliance.update.update_functions:Exception happens while sending message to microservice: ConnectionRefusedError(111, 'Connection refused')

2019-04-15T16:29:09.507 [3347]INFO:vmware.appliance.update.update_functions:Timeout happens while sending message to microservice

2019-04-15T16:29:09.507 [3347]ERROR:vmware.vapi.provider.local:Error in invoking com.vmware.appliance.update.pending in precheck - Timeout happens while sending message to microservice

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.7.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.7.x

Cause

This issue is occurs due to stale PID file of update microservice.

Resolution

To resolve this issue:
Workaround 1:

1. Connect to VCSA using SSH putty session.
2. Navigate to the directory /var/run/vmware/applmgmt/ and verify availability of file update_microservice.pid:

ls /var/run/vmware/applmgmt/update_microservice.pid

3. Proceed to delete the update_microservice.pid file.
   • rm /var/run/vmware/applmgmt/update_microservice.pid
4. Retry the patching of vCenter Server Appliance.

Workaround 2:

• Reboot the vCenter Server Appliance.